Suspect Confessed to Texas School Shooting, Police Say

SANTA FE, Texas — A 17-year-old student confessed to opening fire at his Texas high school on Friday, killing 10 people, and told investigators that he had spared certain students “so he could have his story told,” the authorities said.

A Galveston County Sheriff’s Office investigator wrote in an affidavit that Dimitrios Pagourtzis had waived his right to remain silent and had given “a statement admitting to shooting to multiple people” at Santa Fe High School. The investigator, identified only as J. Roy, also wrote that Pagourtzis had said that “he did not shoot students he did like so he could have his story told.”

Pagourtzis’ apparently well-planned assault in this rural community of about 13,000 people was the deadliest school shooting since February, when 17 people were killed in Parkland, Florida. But investigators said that Pagourtzis had given no overt indications that he was planning a mass shooting.

“Unlike Parkland, unlike Sutherland Springs, there were not those types of warning signs,” Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said, referring to the Florida school attack and a siege at a church last November. “We have what are often categorized as red-flag warnings, and here, the red-flag warnings were either nonexistent or very imperceptible.”

In the aftermath of Friday’s attack, though, Abbott said that investigators had recovered information from Pagourtzis’ computer and cellphone that suggested that he wanted to carry out the shooting and to kill himself afterward. Instead, Pagourtzis surrendered and was being held Saturday without bond on charges of capital murder and aggravated assault of a public servant.

He said little during a brief court appearance Friday evening, but he did request a court-appointed lawyer. He was not asked to enter a plea.

“Karma’s going to come back and it’ll come back hard,” said Breanna Quintanilla, 17, who suffered a minor injury when a bullet ricocheted and hit her leg on Friday. “I hope he sees what he’s done.”

Investigators on Saturday were poring over Pagourtzis’ life and a crime scene that had been littered Friday with bullet holes and shell casings from a shotgun and a .38 revolver that officials believe Pagourtzis took from his father.

“The investigation continues and will for some time,” a spokeswoman for the FBI in Houston, Christina Garza, said.

Television trucks and police vehicles lined the highway in front of the high school, with the road reopened to traffic after being shut down soon after the shooting. The school’s electronic billboard read “Indian Nation,” a reference to the school mascot, but the sprawling red brick campus remained closed.

The school district said all of its schools would be closed on Monday and Tuesday and announced that it would offer counseling. The district also urged parents to “not hesitate to ask for help if you notice a change in your child’s typical demeanor.”

“Like you, I have many questions about this horrific event,” Leigh Wall, the school superintendent, wrote in an open letter to the community. “Those answers will come in time as this methodical, thorough investigation moves forward.” But in the absence of quick answers, there seemed little this area could do but grieve.

On Friday evening, the Saltgrass Cowboy Church, just down the road from upscale suburban homes and a few miles from the school, opened to offer solace to anyone who wanted it.

“We’re just opening the doors to anyone who might need some love,” the pastor, Kevin Garber, said.

A few minutes later, about 25 church members bowed solemnly as the minister asked God to comfort those stricken by the tragedy.

“Father, I have no words as a man,” he prayed. “I’m just as much as in shock as everybody.”